(11-27-2020, 07:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: Also, maybe this disaster that we call the ION could...you know...NOT use Bombardier for anything going forward?
"Disaster" is an unnecessarily hyperbolic mischaracterisation of ION.
Yes, Bombardier being so late on delivery was very frustrating, but once we had the working trams Keolis had things up and running in short order, and they have been reliable ever since. The problems with the EasyGO fare card system were also frustrating, but I am of the opinion that at least some of the problems were with users not paying attention and using the system incorrectly. Presto has had far more problems on almost every one of their installs. The TTC for example, has been having problems with their implementation for more than 5 years.
Frustrating? Sure. A disaster? Hardly.
(11-27-2020, 07:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: When is the last time you ever read anything about them that wasn't bad news? They're a terrible company.
I'm guessing that you don't follow rail news, like, at all? Alstom, Siemens, Kinki Sharyo, they've all had their problems at one time or another. Alstom's clusterfuck with the Citadis Spirit for Ottawa. Siemens was forbidden from bidding on contracts for the London Underground for more than a decade from the early 2000s because a previous delivery was just as bad as Ottawa's from Alstom.
Prior to mid 2013 or so, well after Waterloo Region had decided to join the contract with Metrolinx, Bombardier Transportation was one of the top three largest rail manufacturers and had a highly respected reputation, 180° from Bombardier Air's. That had produced literally tens of thousands of locomotives and cars for the previous 40+ years, include more than 3,000 LRT trams. Unless you were expecting the Regional Council to have been psychic and able to tell the future, there were some very good reasons to go with Bombardier.
(11-27-2020, 07:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: I think we only went with them because we or they or someone got some breaks if we bought Canadian, but that turned out to be a complete waste of time and money.
One of those good reasons was cost. The only other manufacturers who reportedly showed any interest in supplying trams for the ION were Alstom, Siemens and Kinki Sharyo, and if you go and google their contracts for the five to ten years prior to 2012 that got mentioned in the news, you'll quickly see that we probably would have paid close to twice as much for trams from one of them, based on those other known contracts. Even with the extra $20-25M in other costs caused by Bombardier being so late, we are still cheaper than what those three would have been.
(11-27-2020, 07:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: Alstom may have had some wonky doors on the newest Otrain line, but at least they got trains in time - not 2-3 years later, incomplete with no APT and welding that was cracking after a few weeks.
If you think Ottawa only had a few problems with "wonky doors" then you weren't paying attention to what happened there.
They also had problems with control system integration the required 20+ minute reboots, various problems with the electrical systems which caused the trams to stop working in inclement weather, and issues persisted into January of this year when on one day they were short 5 trams due to recurring mechanical and electrical issues. They are supposed to have 13 trams on during peak, and 8 the rest of the day. And a whole bunch more.
Now contrast that to our trams. Bombardier may have been very late, but once we got all of them Keolis had the system up and running in short order and it has been reliable ever since.
So twice the price and all those problems? No thank you!